There has been a 50% surge in global cybercrimes post the onset of Covid-19, reveals India’s National Cyber Security Coordinator Rajesh Pant. Avoid suspicious mails, SMSes, and learn cyber-hygiene through a free online course, he said. The current crisis has increased the dependence on the Internet. Fraudsters are taking advantage of this to steal money, he said.

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), the federal agency to combat cyber attacks to guard the Indian cyber space, has issued a fresh advisory with over a dozen suggestions to keep personal mobile phones healthy and secure.

According to the 2019 NortonLifeLock Cyber Safety Insights Report, 63% Indians do not know what they will do if their identities are stolen, even though 70% are worried that identities will be stolen. 4 in 10 consumers in India have experienced identity theft.

Talking to ET Online, in a telephonic interview Lt Gen.Pant said, “In the past two months almost 4000 fraud portals related to Corona Virus have been created across the globe by cyber criminals and other mafia organisations.”

It said that as the virus spreads across the globe, people are searching online for the latest information and updates on how it might affect them, and what they can do to protect themselves and their families. Cyber criminals are quick to take advantage of these concerns for their own gain, it added.

Cybersecurity firm Cyfirma said it had alerted the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In), the country’s nodal cyber security agency, about conversations linked to a Pakistan state-sponsored group that identifies itself as ‘IOK’.

"29.1 million Indian jobseekers' personal details leaked in deepweb for free. We usually see this sort of leaks all the time, but this time, the message header got our attention as it included a lot of personal details - where most of the things are generally static such as education, address etc," according to online intelligence firm Cyble.

Last year, the government said it planned to release a new Cybersecurity Strategy to keep up with the changing nature of technologies, platforms and threats. Technology policy think tanks and digital freedom advocates have written to the National Security Council Secretariat urging stronger encryption requirements.

These impersonators are seeking donations for Covid-19 and trying to steal credentials for online fraud. Recently, the government had to issue a clarification over cyber criminals sending e-mails and WhatsApp messages stating that the government of India was giving Rs 1,000 to those under the socalled Corona Sahayata Yojana scheme.

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), in a latest advisory, has said while there is "nothing to worry" about such emails, users should update or change their passwords, used to login any of their social media or other online platforms, if they find them compromised.